1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of heat transfer and mass transfer. As used herein, heat transfer is the movement of energy that heats or cools a fluid (liquid or gas) or evaporates a liquid or condenses a vapor that must exchange through a gas/liquid, gas/solid, or liquid/solid interface or combinations thereof. Mass transfer is the movement of an evaporating liquid from the liquid phase into the gas phase or movement of the condensing vapor from the gas phase into the liquid phase.
2. Description of the Related Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,115, entitled Method and Apparatus for Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer, issued on May 23, 1989, and invented by the inventors of the instant invention; the use of segmented wetting of sectors of at least one chamber by a fluid in a chamber through which a gas is flowing and migratory movement of the fluid through the sectors of the chamber by the fluid in a configuration involving at least two chambers with a thermally conducting wall therebetween has been described. The referenced U.S. Patent provides a multiplicity of applications in which simultaneous heat and mass transfer can be used advantageously, e.g., temperature and humidity modification, purification, etc.
While the use of two thermally connected chambers has provided a suitable environment for the implementation of the transfer, this structure has provided increased complexity in fabrication, particularly when the dimensions of the chamber become critical. A need has therefore been felt for apparatus to implement simultaneous heat and mass transfer which involves a single chamber.